After his first two national election victories, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India easily set his own terms, with his Bharatiya Janata Party winning clear majorities.
It was still a victory, but one that left him dependent on a host of coalition partners — particularly on politicians from two regional parties who could make or break Mr. Modi’s ability to form a government.
Of the more than a dozen parties that make up the B.J.P.’s coalition, known as the National Democratic Alliance, most won just one or two seats, leaving the party in a difficult predicament.
said it had reached an agreement to form a coalition government that includes those two regional parties — the Telugu Desam Party and Janata Dal-United.
They will be the biggest junior partners, but they are also avowedly secular and removed from Mr. Modi’s Hindu-nationalist ideology.
Persons:
Narendra Modi, —
Organizations:
Bharatiya Janata Party, National Democratic Alliance, Telugu Desam Party, Janata Dal - United
Locations:
India, Modi’s